Bosch launches"future-proof" filling tech

Bosch packaging has launched two new capsule filling machines which it says are capable of handling all current and future applications.

The new machines – the GKF 702 for small and medium-sized batches, and the GKF 2500 equipped with a micro dosing station – can perform powder as well as liquid and combination filling.

The firm says the move is a bid to meet a growing need for filling flexibility, and that many firms are now demanding the ability to produce anything from extremely small batches – particularly useful for pharma research and development (R&D) – to commercial scale on the same equipment.

Product manager of capsule filling, Melanie Beck said: “This makes it possible to fill very small batches for pharmaceutical or clinical purposes under realistic production conditions.”

Speaking to in-PharmaTechnologist.com, Beck added that the machinery is “a future proof investment” because it is compatible with all new filling stations currently in development.

“In this fast- paced industry, it is hardly possible to anticipate which products will be developed in the future, therefore, you never know how the characteristics of new formulations will actually run on a machine.

“Machines must be able to adapt to new products, characteristics and formulations.”

A big fish in a small pond

When asked why Bosch’s new machinery does not handle larger scale production, Beck said that the number of generic products currently flooding the field means that small to medium manufacturing is a much easier area to work in.

“Blockbuster products used to be the most important market, and they still are being produced and sold,” she said. “But generic drugs are entering the market at a fast pace and the originator has to fight for every market segment.”

Beck added that there is a growing need for small batch sizes because of a new focus on rare indications.

She said: “Personalised medicine is on the rise, for instance orphan drugs or anti-cancer medicine. This individualised medicine requires for smaller batch sizes.”

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